Four U.S. Marines were killed at Camp Pendleton Wednesday morning during a range maintenance operation, base officials confirmed. According to Camp Pendleton officials, the deadly incident happened around 11 a.m (Wednesday).NBC News reports that a U.S. military official said the incident involved the detonation of some unexploded ordnance on a range at the base. The Marines involved in the accident were Explosive Ordnance Marines, NBC News reported. Sources inside the Pentagon said the Marines were not clearing the range, but instead doing some sort of training when the deadly detonation occurred.
An official from the public affairs office told NBC 7 San Diego that the incident happened in the Zulu impact area, which is located roughly at the center of the base. The impact area is where Marines fire artillery and drop bombs from aircraft. The official said there was artillery training on base today, but not in that specific area. He said there was no firing going on at the Zulu impact area at the time of the fatal incident.
The official also clarified what is meant by the term "range maintenance," saying it's a fairly broad term used to describe a variety of upkeep on those firing ranges and can include anything from mowing the grass to actually clearing artillery.
| Deepest condolences to the families, the units involved, and all Marines. |